​Search engine optimization (SEO) is not only a mouthful, but is also an intimidating term for businesses that are in the process of launching their brands online. Everyone knows that they must consider SEO in order to earn high rankings by search engines, but many are unsure about where to start.

1. Identify the right keywords.
The very basis of your SEO strategy should be to know the keywords and phrases that your audience is typing into search engines. Fortunately, this does not need to be a mystery as there are a number of keyword research tools to help you learn this information. For example, SEMRush offers both a paid and free keyword research tool that alerts of you of the keywords and phrases that your audience is using as well as the competitiveness of each keyword that you may be targeting.

2. Make your website mobile friendly.
There has been a lot of hype about Google's latest search engine algorithm update dubbed "Mobilegeddon." As of April 2015, Google gives preference to websites that have been optimized to accommodate the mobile viewer. If you're unsure if your website meets this standard, be sure to take Google's mobile friendly test. In short, Google now gives preference to websites that are designed to be responsive.

3. Publish relevant content on a frequent basis.
Everyone knows that search engines love fresh content, so the more often you can publish new content that is relevant to what your target audience wants to hear about, the better your website will be ranked. Since you probably aren't regularly updating the main pages on your website (there is only so much you can change about your "About Us" or "Contact Us" pages), many businesses should consider adding a blog to their website to regularly create new content that Google will index.

4. Offer a variety of content.
While blogging may be a large part of your SEO strategy, you need to remember that your audience (and search engines) like to see variety. Incorporating imagery into your blog posts is a very effective way to captivate your audience and keep them interested in your content. Even better is when you can find a way to use an infographic to explain a more complex topic. You'll find that the combination of image and text that infographics offer is pretty powerful.

5. Monitor analytics.
The thing that is so unique about digital marketing is that you can always refer to analytics tools to see how your efforts are performing and make adjustments when necessary. If you are really committed to improving your SEO strategy and getting your website to the first page of Google, regularly monitoring analytics and proactively knowing which areas need improvement will help you get you to page one faster.
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If you search the internet, you can find an overwhelming amount of tips to help you improve your search engine optimization strategy. However, these 5 best practices outlined above are absolutely essential to helping your website climb in rankings.